Electrical connector assemblies of the locking type are well known in the electrical connector industry, and are commonly used to prevent accidental separation between a plug or male electrical connector and a receptacle or female electrical connector. Normally, the female connector of such an electrical connector assembly has two or more arcuate, circularly arranged slots, while the male connector has an equal number of arcuate blades which are dimensioned and arranged for insertion into the slots of the female connector by a simple axial movement, and then, via a rotation of one or both of the electrical connectors, the blades can be moved into a position from which they cannot be separated by simple axial movement. To accomplish this, one or more of the blades usually has an L-shaped configuration in which the laterally extended portion, or flag, of the blade engages a recess or shelf within the slot of the female portion as a result of the rotation.
The male and female connectors can take various configurations, but the male connector is usually a plug connected to the end of a multi-conductor cable. The female connector may also terminate a similar cable, or it can be a fixture or receptacle mounted in a partition or on a piece of equipment. In any event, it is possible for the cable attached to the male connector and/or female connector to be subjected to various forces which might tend to rotate the cable and also the male connector and/or female connector in the unlocking direction, thereby causing inadvertent unlocking and extraction of the blades from the slots.
To prevent this kind of undesired extraction, there has been an effort to develop connectors which have greater resistance to accidental disconnection or which have locking devices capable of precluding such accidental disconnection. However, many of these prior art devices are complicated to manufacture, assemble and use, and many of them require a significant number of parts and a specially designed female device to cooperate with the male device.
Examples of various rotatable locking type electrical connectors are disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.: 2,396,901 to Tiffany; 3,393,395 to Hubbell; 3,784,961 to Gartland; 3,945,702 to Poliak et al; 4,213,667 to Wittes; 5,046,961 to Hoffman; and 5,108,297 to Hoffman et al.
Examples of other non-rotatable electrical connectors with various locking arrangements to prevent inadvertent uncoupling of mating electrical connectors are disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.: 2,241,828 to Reynolds; 3,513,436 to Nodfelt; 3,551,880 to Hartwell; 3,585,323 to Appleton et al; 3,735,078 to Appleton et al; 4,056,298 to Cooper et al; 4,506,121 to Peterson et al; 4,553,000 to Appleton; 4,604,505 to Henninger; 4,902,238 to Iacobucci; and 5,298,701 to Sandor.
In view of the above, it is apparent that there exists a need for mating electrical connectors of the locking type with a locking arrangement to prevent inadvertent uncoupling between the mating electrical connectors. This addresses this need in the art, along with other needs which will become apparent to those skilled in the art once given this disclosure.